Battlestations: Pacific

Battlestations: Pacific
Developer(s)	Eidos Hungary (PC and Xbox 360) Robosoft Technologies (Mac OS X)
Composer(s)	Richard Jacques
Series	Battlestations
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Genre(s)	Action, Real-time tactics
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

Battlestations: Pacific is an action and real-time tactics video game published by Eidos Interactive and developed by Eidos Hungary. It is also the sequel to the 2007 video game Battlestations: Midway. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on May 12, 2009 in North America, and on May 15, 2009 in Europe and Australia. The Mac OS X version of the game was developed by Robosoft Technologies and released on 8 October 2010 by Feral Interactive.

On April 19, 2010, Square Enix Europe confirmed the closure of the games' developers, Eidos Hungary.

Gameplay

Battlestations: Pacific expands on Battlestations: Midway in several ways, adding new combat features such as more advanced submarine combat, more easily customizable planes and ordnance loads, island invasions, which have effects on the battle at hand. New weapons, planes, and ships were added, such as HVAR Rockets and experimental fighters, including the Kikka and Shinden, along with kamikaze units, such as the Ohka and Kaiten; there are also some more conventional aircraft and ship additions.

Battlestations: Pacific shifts events beyond the Battle of Midway for the American forces as they continue the war onwards to Okinawa and final victory.

The most drastic addition is that of the Japanese campaign, which tells a "what if" story in which Japan is victorious at the Battle of Midway and continues their war effort beyond that point to invade Hawaii, trade technology with Germany, and defeat the United States of America. It was also possible to, at the start of the attack on Pearl Harbor, "kill" the two main characters of Battle Stations Midway. If the player managed to sink Henry's PT boat, the pilot would comment "His name was Henry. This is not his story." After shooting down Donald's more advanced plane, he would go on to comment that "Fighter ace, huh? At least you died in the air." pointing back to Donald's death on the USS Yorktown during a Kamikaze attack.

Multiplayer

Battlestations: Pacific features five new multiplayer modes that can be played with or against other humans or AI-controlled characters online or offline.

• Island capture - Each team starts with one or two Headquarters as their main bases to launch units from. Units are brought into the battle by spending Command Points on each unit. There are numerous islands scattered around the map and each one's base can be captured either by paratroopers or seaborne assault. Capturing a base can unlock different unit types or Naval Supplies which are single use items that can enhance your fleet for example arming your ships with more effective ammunition. By holding bases you accumulate points and the game ends when either the time runs out, one team reaches the designated score or one team runs out of bases.
• Duel - Two teams of four equal class units versus each other until only one side still has any units left.
• Competitive - All players are on the same side with a specific objective to complete but the main goal is to score more than the other players.
• Siege - One team must defend an island with their specific set of units while the other team is in an attacking position. The game end when one team has drained their resource pool.
• Escort - A key unit (or units) must be protected by one team up to a certain point while the other team is set on destroying the said objective.

Single Player

US campaign

The US campaign starts off right after the events of Battlestations: Midway and features a historically accurate story that has 14 missions:

• Battle of the Eastern Solomons
• Battle of Cape Esperance
• Battle of Santa Cruz
• Defence of Henderson Field
• 1st Battle of Guadalcanal
• 2nd Battle of Guadalcanal
• Invasion of Tarawa
• Battle of the Phillippine Sea
• Divine Winds of Leyte
• Battle of Cape Engaño
• Sub on Patrol
• Air Raid against Indochina
• Invading Iwo Jima
• Battle of Okinawa

Japanese campaign

The Japanese campaign starts off with the Attack on Pearl Harbor and progresses with a fictional "what if" story if the Battle of Midway and subsequent operations were a success. This campaign is separate from the US campaign and features the following 14 missions:

• Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Destruction of Force Z
• Battle of Java Sea
• Saving the Shōhō
• Invasion of Port Moresby
• Hunt for the USS Hornet
• Invasion of Midway
• Defence of Guadalcanal
• Solomons' Skirmish
• Attack on Sydney Harbour
• Seizing the Fiji's
• Meeting the Germans
• The Road to Hawaii
• Invasion of Hawaii

Development

In 2008 Battlestations: Midway's main site battlestations.net reported a sequel in development and later that year Battlestations: Pacific was announced.

The game's graphics engine has been overhauled. Details now include such things as foliage upon islands, water becoming transparent at shallow depths and a new cockpit view mode.

The game's damage model and physics engine, specifically the water based physics, have been redeveloped to a much higher level of realism than that of its predecessor. Ships split in two, smokestacks and crewmen could be blasted overboard. The wings, tails and engines can be shot off planes.

The game now includes several different types of environment effects, most notably the addition of night, day and other weather effects. Over 100 playable units are included.

A Japanese campaign which reflects plans that the Japanese had constructed if the pacific war had turned in their favour is also included with the historical US campaign.

The playability of the game has gained developer attention, with the learning-curve being shortened and the tabs for launching units and repairs was simplified.

Release

Battlestations: Pacific was released on May 12, 2009 in North America, and on May 15, 2009 in Europe and Australia. A demo for Battlestations: Pacific was released on the April 30, 2009 for the PC and Xbox 360. The demo contained a mission from the US single player campaign (Divine Winds of Leyte) as well as two multiplayer modes to play in Skirmish mode.

The First official trailer
The Second official trailer
The Third official trailer
The Official Attract trailer
The War Machines trailer
The Official Release trailer

Reception

On Metacritic the PC version of the game has got 74 out of 100 and the Xbox 360 has got 76 out of 100. Eurogamer gave the game a 7/10 stating that "Battlestations: Pacific still has much to recommend underneath the flaws...the pleasures it does offer are enhanced by the knowledge that it's still the only game offering them." Videogamer gave the game a score of 8/10 stating that "There's no questioning the fact that Battlestations: Pacific occupies a relatively unique place in the games market, and that it probably benefits considerably from the resulting freshness." However it also commented upon the games "choppy" moments, criticising the voice-acting as being "pretty cringe-worthy." GameSpot gave the game 8/10 summarising that Battlestations: Pacific "is a sequel done right: It's just as fun, but it's bigger, broader, and more fully realized." The Official Xbox Magazine gave the game a 7/10, Team Xbox awarded the game an 8.9/10 concluding that "Battlestations: Pacific is a highly rewarding experience for those who like their action with a heavy dose of strategy." but it also criticised some "gimmicky" elements. Boomtown gave the game a 9/10. X-Play gave the game a 4/5. Eidos has acknowledged some small technical issues with the game and has confirmed that it is currently developing a patch to fix said issues which will be released before any other downloadable content.

Expansion packs

Battlestations Pacific has seen the release of three expansion packs after release. These expansion packs can be downloaded from Games for Windows Marketplace and Xbox live Marketplace respectively.

• Mustang Unit Pack
• Carrier Battles Map Pack
• Volcano Map Pack

External links

• Battlestations: Pacific official website
• Battlestations: Pacific at Feral Interactive
• Template:StrategyWiki